JAKARTA, Indonesia — Muslim groups in Malaysia and Indonesia have called for a boycott of Starbucks because of the coffee chain’s support for LGBT rights.
Malaysian group Perkasa this week called on its more than 500,000 members to stay away from Starbucks coffee shops. This week and last, leaders of Indonesia’s second largest Muslim group, Muhammadiyah, with an estimated 29 million members, denounced the chain.
The groups are apparently reacting to comments made several years ago by former CEO Howard Schultz in support of gay rights that drew renewed attention amid an increasingly anti-LGBT climate in both countries.
Shares of the company that operates Starbucks in Indonesia fell this week but its stores in the capital Jakarta appeared as popular as ever.
